Air carts and air drills are commonly towed together by tractors to apply seed, fertilizer, micro-nutrients or other granular agricultural product to a field. Air carts typically include a hopper having one or more compartments configured for holding such product. Air carts also typically include a pneumatic distribution system, including blower assemblies, metering units and primary hoses, for delivering the product from the air cart to the air drill. Air drills are typically towed adjacent to air carts, and often include secondary hoses connected to the primary hoses at headers. Air drills also typically include row units in communication with the secondary hoses which may operate to open a row in a field, receive product from the air cart, and subsequently close the row over the distributed product. In one such application, some compartments of the air cart may be filled with seed while other compartments may be filled with fertilizer.
It is sometimes necessary to separate the air cart from the air drill, for example, when changing between field operations or performing equipment maintenance. To separate the air cart from the air drill, a mechanical hitching point between the air cart and the air drill is typically released. In addition, the primary hoses running between the air cart and the air drill are also typically disconnected at an air pack manifold connection. To allow for secure and rigid mounting of the primary hoses, and to reduce the stresses that flexing hoses could impart (such as during bumps or turns), the manifold connection is typically positioned closer to the air cart body on one end, or closer to the air drill body on the other end, and further from the hitching point between the air cart and the air drill.
However, having the air pack manifold connection separated a longer distance from the hitching point oftentimes makes handling the air cart or air drill difficult when separated and operating as a standalone piece of equipment, such as for transportation or storage. This problem may manifest itself in the form of excess hose lengths which must be accounted for in some way for safely transporting and/or storing the equipment. This is further complicated by the fact that such hoses may be long, heavy and cumbersome to manipulate, thereby making the connection and disconnection of such hoses difficult and unnatural for the operator. What is needed is an improved system for providing such hoses in agricultural systems, which may be more convenient for the operator.